Cultural intimacy: social poetics in the nation-state

Roma Ethnographies of Grief in the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…There are links between our positionality and the narratives of our informants. Arguably these can be 'partial connections' (Strathern, 2004), 'situated knowledges' (Haraway, 1988) and 'cultural intimacy' (Herzfeld, 2005). These are positions of seeing, listening and being which require a 'thick description' (Geertz, 1973); positions concerned not with the authoritative voice of the researcher but with their autobiography and the way their life experiences influence the research they choose to undertake.…”

‘Palermo is a mosaic’: cosmopolitan rhetoric in the capital of Sicily

“…I contend that a form of cultural intimacy is at play here: Michael Herzfeld's idea that, paradoxically, 'stereotypes or signifiers of identity that embarrass a social group in the face of outside observers may also be the factors that most strongly create a sense of community within the group' (Herzfeld 2005a). The very things that have historically been used to marginalise Sicilians (Schneider 1998)proximity to North Africa; poverty; assumptions that Sicilians are tainted by organised crimebecome repurposed as catalysts for empathy and therefore a stronger sense of shared humanity.…”

Atas do espírito: a Organização Mundial da Saúde e suas formas de instituir a espiritualidade

“…Em seu livro Intimidade cultural, Herzfeld (2008) opera substancialmente dois conceitos: o de poética (social) e o de intimidade cultural. Como bem sintetizou Marcio Goldman (1998), a "intimidade cultural" seria constituída por valores que os indivíduos e grupos consideram como "seus" e que eles devem, ao mesmo tempo, seguir e apresentar aos demais. Representam-se os valores no sentido teatral do termo, mas isso só adquire sentido no quadro das interações concretas, que, simultaneamente, produzem os contextos em que se processam (Goldman, 1998:150).…”